Klaus Gertken – Soirée en août

Klaus Gertken piano, keyboards (1, 4, 7, 8, 11)
Lilo Klein cello (1, 4, 7, 8, 11)
Lutz Bauer drums (1, 4, 7, 8, 11)
Emmanuelle Chimento soprano (2, 9)
Monika Abel-Lazar soprano (3, 6, 10)
Aline Quentin soprano (5, 12)
Lisa Kuhnert violin (3, 6, 10)
Olga Wien piano (2, 3, 5, 6, 9, 10, 12)

1. Forgotten email 4:28
2. La tortue veille 1:49
3. Je pense à ce jour 3:08
4. How Insensitive 4:48
5. Sérénité 2:26
6. Silence 4:31
7. Pálinka 5:15
8. La Fiesta 3:40
9. Rêves et chutes 3:48
10. Lâcher prise 3:13
11. Children’s Song No. 8 1:43
12. Soirée en août 4:38

The final track on this CD is a song entitled “Soirée en août” (Evening in August). It speaks of a “mysterious stellar constellation”, “evening wind” and “the rustling of leaves”, and the feeling of euphoria which this natural wonder conjures up in the human mind. The collection includes five recordings by my second jazz trio from 2001 featuring Lilo Klein on cello and Lutz Bauer on drums, which are presented along with, and by way of contrast, seven songs for which Isabella von Treskow has written the lyrics. These songs are from a bunch of twelve numbers written between 2010 and 2022. Unintentionally, and to my own surprise, the years of collaboration with Isabella have seen me progress from a jazz pianist to a song composer.
The surprising alternation between the more freewheeling jazz tracks and the more tightly arranged songs here presented may disconcert but also inspire. Such were my thoughts in May 2023, when I realized that the classical feel of the songs requires greater attention from the listener, while the improvised jazz allows the listener a more relaxed approach. Yet it is just through this variation of style and moods through the album that I hope to uncover new potentials in the listening experience: both enjoyment and enrichment.